Saw a guy at Home Depot bragging about his slatwall system and I had to bite my tongue

I was in the aisle picking up some pegboard hooks last Saturday when this dude was telling his friend he spent $800 on a custom slatwall setup from some fancy brand. And he was so proud of it, saying how it looks like a showroom. But here's the thing, I built my own slatwall from plywood and some basic rails for like $120 total, and it holds all my tools just fine. Sure it's not as pretty but who's really hanging out in their garage admiring the wall panels? I'd rather have that extra $680 in my pocket for a new mitre saw or something. Has anyone else gone the DIY route and felt like the expensive systems are just overhyped?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisas782d ago

Man I feel you. I went the same route, grabbed some sanded plywood and painted it myself, then added those basic metal channels. Whole thing cost me like 110 bucks and it's held up for 3 years now with all my heavy stuff on it. @craig.olivia nailed it, that extra cash really adds up for actual tools or maybe a nice bench setup.

max_schmidt772d ago

Laughing @lisas78 would probably agree this dude's story is just sad honestly. You can take that extra cash and buy a whole damn toolbox or a new impact driver instead of paying for a wall that's gonna look the same in the dark garage anyway. People flex on the weirdest stuff, like congrats you spent full retail when I got the same thing for pocket change. My plywood slatwall has been through two moves and still holds my drill press, no complaints here.

craig.olivia2d ago

oh man, tell me about it. i did the same thing with some leftover 3/4 ply from a job and some cheap metal tracks from amazon. spent maybe 90 bucks total and it handles all my heavy power tools no problem. people get so caught up in the name brand stuff when the DIY version works just as good for a fraction of the cost. that 680 bucks can go way further on a new saw or even a whole tool cabinet.